Christmas Recap

After a wonderful Christmas Eve with Troy's family we got a call saying my family's Christmas festivities was being postponed until Sunday. We spent most of Christmas Day clearing snow and playing with our new Wii, but we did find time to play in the snow. Brady loved sitting in the snow bank watching Gracie chase snowballs.

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He got lots of fun toys-including this Radio Flyer wagon, Fisher Price Silly Town, Busy Ball Popper, and this cool Silver Speedster. Our basement looks like a parking ramp. He got a lot of other presents too...thanks to all for making his 1st Christmas a memorable one!

Santa

Thank goodness it was free....obviously not impressed.

10 Months

Brady has become a very busy 10 month old. He spends most of the day exploring the house, chasing his dog, and hanging onto Mom's ankle. He pulls himself up now quite well and can stand for a few minutes. He loves wrestling with Dad and playing chase me while getting his diaper changed.

He knows what "no no" means but chooses to ignore it most of the time. His favorite "no no" objects are his doggy night light, the heat vent covers, and the dog's water bowl.

He eats like a machine. Pancakes and yogurt are his favorites. I am transitioning him to formula-FINALLY!

He's starting to follow simple directions such as waving Bye-Bye. If I ask him to put toys into a bucket he will do that too.

His 3rd tooth just appeared this week-all on the bottom.

The weather was great today so we headed into the backyard. Brady loved scooting around the patio chasing leaves. It has been so fun to watch him develop this month. He eats all sorts of new foods-fruit chunks, vegetables, meat, and beans. He loves to feed himself so I am trying to give him as much "big people" food as possible.

Emotionally he is developing too and with that has come bits of separation anxiety. He loves being with Mom. He is constantly pulling at my pants wanting me to pick him up. He makes a face to let me know he is unhappy about getting his diaper changed, wearing socks, or getting his face wiped off. He also recognizes people he sees often and kicks his legs with delight.

Up!

He pulled himself up for the first time unassisted tonight. He was going after his favorite toy, my blackberry.

My Little Pumpkin

Happy Halloween!

Scootin

The scoot has been in development for the last few weeks, but he finally has it mastered. My friends, he's mobile.

In other new...

-He says MaMa.
-He managed to pull himself up on the couch this afternoon for the first time. He has great timing-I just dropped his crib to the lowest level after his morning nap.
-We have found a new babysitter who will help us out during the week. She will start as soon as she recovers from a recent bout with pneumonia.
-Brady refuses to take a bottle now so we have transitioned to a sippy cup. You gotta love this kid, he makes my job so easy.
-We joined the local YMCA. Thankfully they have really cheap childcare so I can work on losing these last few pounds. They also have a really great kiddie pool we plan on taking advantage of.

Cousins

We had a family get together last weekend while Jim & Erik were in town. Brady got to play with his cousin Ryan. Aren't they cute?

Brady has become increasingly more mobile these days. Changing his diaper or putting clothes on has become a real chore. A distraction diaper is almost always necessary to keep him on this back.

Brady has figured out how to get from his tummy to a sitting position. So when he's ready to get up I find him sitting in his crib. I think it will only be a short time before he is pulling himself up. He also feeds himself finger foods-loves cereal, pretzel rods & yogurt melts. His loves watching me eat and wants whatever I have.
His new favorite activity is playing in the tupperware cabinet.

Doggy

The poor dog...

Little Fins

We attended our 1st Little Fins gathering over the weekend. Little Fins is a support group for families with children dealing with limb differences. The apple orchard stayed open late exclusively for us and provided lots of activities. Brady was too young to participate in getting eggs from the chicken coop or feeding the baby goats, but he loved looking at the animals and the hay ride. We had a blast and are already looking forward to the winter gathering!

8 Months

Since getting his prosthetic he has become much more aware of his short arm.

He loves sitting outside waiting for Daddy to come home. His favorite thing to do while out there is holding the dog leash.

My Daddy

Da Da Da

Brady started saying Da Da yesterday and hasn't stopped since.

Teeth

Photos

Brady and I went to the park today in hopes of getting some great 7-8 month pictures. We've been busy lately and the pictures I have taken were nothing I wanted to put in a frame. The bright sun required a hat so my disappointment started with the shadows being casted on his face. Combine that with a child distracted by grass and I got no smiles. The shots of him in the swing weren't much better....this is the best one I got and it doesn't even show his face. BUT, once we got home he did this and I was a happy mom.

In other news, we started two ECFE classes this week (infant playtime and creepers & crawlers). He seems to be enjoying them much more this time around. He is interacting with the other babies and loves song time. Between that and Grandma babysitting every Tuesday our week is filling up fast.

Football & Jesse James

Brady watched his first Vikings game this weekend and like most dudes loved every minute.


Brady had another first this weekend-Jesse James Days. I didn't really get any pictures of the festivities, but here he is enjoying a cookie in his stroller. He met lots of new family, got held by Grandma & Grandpa, and stayed awake long enough to watch the frisbee game.

Babyproofing

Brady plays a lot in the office-it didn't take long before he figured out how to open the desk drawers. Babyproofing has just been added to Troy's honey-do list...

Eating his first teething biscuit

In the last few weeks I have seen Brady's sense of independence developing...he holds his own sippy cup, drinks the bottle at his own SLOW pace, and refuses to sit still long enough to change his diaper.

He has become more vocal this week and especially loves when you engage him with some conversation. His latest noise is one best described as a little roar. So cute!

He takes baths in the big tub now. It's a good thing we got several rubber duckies as presents because he stalks them. All the other toys can float on by without even a glance, but the rubber duckies must be his.

He is getting teeth-his two bottom teeth have just popped through. I hope to get a picture of them soon!

He is doing really well with his new arm. He wears it during playtime and has already mastered rolling over it. Mobility wise, it slows him down. The arm sometimes gets caught in awkward positions, but he doesn't let it easily frustrate him.

My new arm....

We picked up Brady's arm this afternoon. I think we went into the appointment a little worried about how it would look. After all, we have gotten used to the 1 1/2 armed baby. The prosthetic looks good (maybe a little large) but he will need room to grow since he will have this arm for atleast 6 months. He wore it for about 3 hours before letting us know he needed a break.

The arm will bring some challenges-he will have to learn how to rebalance himself with the extra weight. Rolling may also be difficult because the arm can come loose if knocked in the wrong direction. Phyiscal Therapists cautioned us he may never crawl because without a moving elbow it is hard to get in the correct position. We will just take the challenges as they come-he has showed us already he has no limitations.

Tub

Moment we realized Brady was ready for the big tub...

Playdate

Today Nicole & Luke (almost 1) were nice enough to make the drive down for a playdate.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of the boys with their matching pacifiers.

Sitting

Brady tried prunes this week-loved them! Only problem is that Mommy doesn't so much love the diapers that come after them.

Brady has his moments of fussiness so we have to get creative to keep him distracted...laundry did the trick this week.

6 Months

It's no secret our child has been blessed with Grandpa B's head size, but his six month stats made me laugh...

Weight - 15 lbs. 12 oz (20%)
Height - 26" (8%)

Head -44.7 cm (77%)!!!!

I am totally lovin the 6 month age-he sits unsupported, recognizes his toys, and says "Bah, Bah, Bah". Last night he blessed us with a full night of sleep-7:30PM to 7:08AM. Troy was holding him at church last weekend and I swear he reached out his arm to go to Mama-broke my heart. He snuggles into my shoulder for little squeezes and grabs my neck when I try to set him down. He loves to laugh especially when he's on his changing table-Troy and Brady have giggle time every night before bed.

Prosthetic Casting

Brady had his first prosthetic casting yesterday and handled it like a trooper. After waiting almost 3 hours in the waiting room, he had every right to be a crabby baby. To be honest, we were starting to be crabby parents, but were then quickly reminded how lucky we are to be patients at this awesome hospital. Some of the other families in the waiting room had driven as far as 12 hours for their appointments. We had lots of opportunities to take pictures of the big day-

Playing in the waiting room

Prosthetic Casting

This process consisted of casting his shoulder and short arm so they can create a sleeve for his passive prosthetic. I was amazed he didn't cry because the casting material was wet and sticky. His pacifier served as a great distraction. We go back in 3 weeks for the fitting. We were lucky enough to be introduced to a little girl named Lilly who has the same limb deficiency as Brady. She is 4 and was happy to show us how her prosthetic works. Her mom mentioned they take her picture with the Shriner's statue every time they visit as a reminder of how she's grown. We thought that was a great idea....

I can not stress enough what a great organization this is. There are so many children in need of prosthetics and Shriner's provides them with great love and care.

If you are interested in learning more about Shriner's or would like to make a donation you can follow the link below.

https://secure2.convio.net/shfc/site/Donation2?idb=1629257853&df_id=2880&2880.donation=form1

Story time with Dad

I haven't taken too many pictures this week because Brady has a case of the oompah-loompah's (orange skin from only eating orange food). I successfully reintroduced peas so hopefully his orange tint will fade soon.

We are looking forward to Brady's prosthetic casting on Monday. I am hoping to take some pictures to share with you guys on Tuesday.

Update

Just wanted to give a quick update:

-The sleep issue resolved itself after a few days. In fact, several nights since he has slept through the night. I'm talking 7:30pm-6:00AM-so nice!

-He dislikes peas-so much so, that he gagged so hard he puked.

-He recognizes many of his "toys" and will roll or launch out of your arms to get them. This includes remote controls, cell phones or paper of any kind.

Brady managed to roll himself under our bed this afternoon. He was so proud of himself...

No Tears

I got shampoo/baby wash in the dude's eye the other night and he whipped out the pout lip...

What happened to my good sleeper?

Brady used to go down for naps like a champ. A story and a snuggle was all he needed to settle down. All of this has changed-I was in denial thinking it was just the introduction of squash to his diet or that maybe he was teething, but it has now been 5 days and we are still battling it out one nap at a time. 20-30 minutes of listening to him kick the side rails, several pacifier plug-ins and constant whining is wearing on my patience. Have I mentioned the kicking....this child is destined to be a soccer player. I could maybe come to accept this change if it meant he was sleeping better at night, but I was up 3 times last night-11:40, 3:39, and 5:52. I don't like starting my day at 5:52AM. I am off to consult my sleep books...

Brady's 1st try in the baby pool.